A tool that is free today can stop working for you halfway through a task. Most of the time the limit was written down. Here is the five-minute check we run before building anything on a free plan.
- Go to the pricing page, not a review. Reviews often copy old numbers. The tool's own page is the one to trust, and the one you can point to later.
- Find the unit. Is the limit in messages, credits, minutes, images or files? Two tools that both say "free" can mean very different amounts of work.
- Find the reset period. Per day, per month, or once and never again? A one-time allowance is a trial, not a free plan.
- Look for what is left out. The best model, longer files, exports, or commercial use are often excluded from the free tier. Read the line about commercial use before you use the output for a client.
- Find out what happens at the limit. It may slow down, switch to a weaker model, stop until the reset, or ask for a card. Know which one before you are in the middle of a task.
- Write down the date you checked. Limits change without notice. A note like "checked on 15 Oct: this plan allows N messages a day" is worth more than your memory.
- Keep one fallback. Pick a second tool for the same job so a limit becomes a switch, not a stop.
If you do only one thing from this list, do number 6. It turns a guess into something you can recheck in a minute.
We are TIC, a small studio that makes plain-language AI guides (ticassociation.com). The list above is free to copy and share.
Drafted with AI help and approved by a person before posting.
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